HMV and Game steal entertainment market share from Amazon in run-up to Black Friday 2015 UK sales November 2, 2015 HMV, Game Digital and Argos staged a comeback in the last three months after growing sales of video games, CDs and DVDs at the expense of their online rival Amazon. Figures released this morning by Kantar Worldpanel show that Amazon’s share of the physical entertainment market shrank by 1.2 percentage points (pp) in the 12 [...]
Halloween costume ideas UK 2015: Walking Dead inspires zombie (costume) invasion as 84 fancy dress outfits bought every hour in run up to 31 October October 29, 2015 Everyone's favourite zombie television show the Walking Dead is apparently the inspiration for Halloween this year. The zombie costume has invaded, selling at a rate of 2,000 a day, or 84 each and every hour, in the run up to Saturday's celebrations. Outfits for prom queen zombies, sailor zombies and nurse zombies are popular choices according to eBay, which [...]
Halloween 2015 could be worth as much as £400m to retailers October 29, 2015 We're used to grinches complaining Halloween is an American import they wish would go away, but it looks like Halloween in all its (fake)blood-soaked sugary glory is here to stay, bringing a welcome boost to retailers. Sainsbury's says Halloween is now the third biggest retail event of the year, after Christmas and Easter. Last year Planet [...]
Tesco shares and bonds snapped up by chairman John Allan October 27, 2015 Tesco chairman John Allan has snapped up more shares in the supermarket less than a month after he and four other board members, including chief executive Dave Lewis, purchased nearly half a million pounds worth collectively. Allan forked out another £100,000 in total, picking up 51,978 shares at 192.39 pence per share, the company said in a regulatory update, [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK: Last year’s chaos at Tesco, Asda, John Lewis, Currys and Argos has put bargain hunters off October 27, 2015 Is last year’s mayhem putting a dampener on Black Friday this year? New figures would suggest yes. Black Friday sales drew shoppers in their millions last year as the American shopping extravaganza came to the UK. But the unprecedented throngs left many with a bad taste in their mouth – and this could be a [...]
My Local: Mike Greene’s new convenience chain has a tough task ahead of it after Morrisons’ management October 26, 2015 Today’s grocery market is an unforgiving place for established supermarkets, let alone new retailers on the block. Many supermarkets are struggling against the seemingly inexorable changes sweeping the grocery industry. They face falling prices and shifting shopping habits, with shoppers moving simultaneously online and to the discount retailers. It is against this backdrop that Mike [...]
Tesco results analysis: Why earning mis-statements are like London buses October 26, 2015 Earnings mis-statements are like London buses, it turns out: you wait ages for one, before two turn up at once. Or that's according to a new study, anyway, which concluded that when one company is found to have mis-stated its earnings, its competitors in that industry could be incentivised to follow suit, leading to even more earnings mis-statements. But [...]
German discounter Aldi pledges to pay all UK staff above National Living Wage October 26, 2015 Aldi has set out to trump its supermarket rivals on pay by announcing today that it will pay all UK staff "significantly" above the living wage. The discount food retailer said all UK employees will be paid at least £8.40 an hour, and £9.45 in London from February 2016. This is ahead of the government’s national living wage of £7.20 an [...]
Sugar tax debate: Sainsbury’s ready meal contains more sugar than a can of Coca Cola, reveals Public Health England October 25, 2015 Who says you can't have too much of a good thing? Well, some supermarket ready meals contain almost twice as much sugar as those often-vilified cans of fizzy drinks. Sainsbury's crispy sweet and sour chicken, is the worst offender, with 61.2g of sugar in a 400g serving, which is the equivalent to almost 13 teaspoons. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 October 2015 October 21, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com POUNDLAND Investec has initiated coverage of Poundland with a “hold” rating and a target price of 300p. The broker said near-term profit benefits from the integration of 99p Stores are expected to return Poundland to 20 per cent growth or more in 2017 [...]